freat

You bring up some interesting points. The current setup I'm running the stock BMW headunit into a Peripheral unit to adjust the gain before going to the amp. I havn't scoped it to see what the voltage is hitting. Not sure if there's another way to do this, but how I adjusted it seems OK. The amp's gain itself is set about halfway, and the XO is at 100Hz, but it's the crappy 2nd order 12db XO that's built into the amp. My plan is to move all active, which is another reason I want to buy another amp. This would let me move the Rockfords to run just the front components, then dedicate a better quality amp to the rli-8. I want to get the most possible out of this sub. Maybe I should focus on the active XO for the sub first? Cleaning that up will definitely help the SQ. I've actually got a Linux computer built that runs BruteFIR on the audio. I pulled it out for further work and to integrate some stuff with the iBus so I can control it from the steering wheel. The front components are a set of Vifas from Madisound. The XO between them is 24db/octave, but still the crappy 12db high pass from the amp. This weekend I'm replacing the tweets with some higher power LPGs that match pretty well. So your comment about minimal increase in power... should I go with the USAmps 1600.2? Or wait until I've got my active going? More more more! -Ron

I just put an rl-i8 SVC in a .49 (.4 net) ft^3 sealed enclosure with a 325 watt RMS bridged at 4 Ohm amp. This thing is surprisingly loud and with cabin gain, responsive to very low frequencies. I mounted it so it fires right into the cabin of my car through the rear armrest hole, so I imagine it would be a similar experience to having it inside a truck cab. You can't go wrong with these speakers... they rock! My previous car was a jetta w/ a 10" Polk... this 8" is far better in SQ and in low range extension. I'm amazed. Rock on soundsplinter!!!

OK so I have a few uberquality phone pics for now, will post some more real pics later. Built a .49 ft^3 (.4 + .09 for displacement) enclosure out of 3/4 MDF so it'll bolt up to the 'ski hole' on my bimmer. Getting the angle to fit snug against the slope of the back seat was a little tough, but it came out in the end (my first box assembling experience). I did black carpet for the face, as I have black interior. Back of the enlosure is gray to match the carpet in the trunk. Box was screwed shut and glued / sealed using Loctite Construction Adhesive (claims no fumes, but I still let it dry 24 hours). Specs: 5.25" Vifa components in the front doors (fatmat added, more on order) 2 x Rockford Fosgate 325.2 Punch amplifiers (1 amp for front, 1 for sub) rli-8 Sub StreetWires 1 Farad Cap Custom (made by me) power wires (4 gauge & 8 gauge w/ techflex) I'm crossing over at 100Hz currently, to offload the 5.25s a bit. I can cross at 80 but can't go quite as loud without the doors resonating (hence the fatmat on order). Also, I found that my back seat where I'm attaching the sub likes to resonate quite a bit, so I'll cover that up as well. Heh. Had some guys sitting in the back seat going to lunch yesterday. One was like "this is awesome" and the other just kept saying "what?". I'll take better pictures soon... just was anxious to share the info. You can see the 'bar' grill I'm using in one of the pics. It's one for a 10" (partsexpress didn't have an 8" version) that I took the shorter end bars and use them for the center. The goal of the bars is just to protect the woofer if someone were to put the armrest up. -Ron

Yeah it's really amazing how good the 8" sounds firing right into the cabin. I discovered that my back seat (actually the metal plate behind the back seat) resonates pretty loud at certain frequencies. I sure wish the fatmat people would ship faster. I ordered that stuff almost three weeks ago. This is the 2nd and last time I will order from fatmat. I need to get a test CD or hook up my laptop to run some sine sweeps and get the balance right. Since I eliminated the rear deck speakers and ran those outputs to the sub, I just fade the factory head unit to adjust the sub volume. I may run the little 'punch' eq knob up front, as that adds some boost in for bass drum kicks... I seem to be getting pretty accurate / flat response, but sometimes I do like that kick-you-in-the-stomach bass. I like the new Punch amps too. Could have gotten the older model cheaper, but these were just too nice looking. Will take some pics after this weekend as I'll be traveling out of town. -Ron

Thanks for the input. Yeah the false floor is already under consideration. There's actually space underneath the existing floor (above the wheel) so I can sink the amps down in, then just keep a blanket around in case I want to cover them. I guess if I do it right I could even have a couple of panels that would fit snug over the amps. I have to take a break on the work for now though and just enjoy the sound